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"But then we were lapping faster than the bulk of the Astons, so the organisers made us raise the height, lose the slicks and carry 80kg of ballast!" Those regs for the lighter cars are, apparently, a big part of the reason for Ginetta’s stroppy absence.

The KTM's Audi-sourced 2.0-litre TFSi engine remains unfettled since the road-car development and makes the same 240bhp in competition form. Hans interrupts: "Actually, we did change the exhaust," he laughs, "because the old one was too quiet – we couldn't hear it over the Mustangs."

In truth, I couldn’t hear anything over the Mustangs. Even the wailing Z4Ms were struggling to be heard over the big V8s, so the comparatively discreet bark of the X-Bow barely stood a chance. On the track, it was a different story, though - the big Stangs were unstoppable on straights, but looked hilariously fat and oversprung, with the taught little KTMs yapping at their heels.

It's hard to explain how different the X-Bow looks on the move – somehow even more prototype. Not unfinished, just unfussy – a pure, focussed machine doing nothing but the very thing it is designed to do. It'll seem doubly alien on the road.

Despite the scrutineers' attempts to even out the field, the KTMs picked off some of the more powerful rivals and chalked up a weekend-best finish of 5th and 6th overall. The best news was they got quicker with each session, so there are big hopes.

Until then, the race development programme will keep feeding into the X-Bow road car. Reiter has been heavily involved in plans for a track-only version of the car which customers will be able to buy in virtual GT4 spec straight out of the box. Toni also hinted at the possibility of a 300bhp road car, using a tweaked version of Audi’s S3 motor.

And so here we go again. More meticulous scheduling and press-baiting when, for now, all eyes are on next month, when we finally get a go in the first of the KTM road cars. You've made your point, chaps, we're hooked. Just give us the keys...